title: iACT--an interactive mHealth monitoring system to enhance psychotherapy for adolescents with sickle cell disease.
abstract: Sickle cell disease (SCD) is the most common inherited disease, and SCD symptoms impact functioning and well-being. For example, adolescents with SCD have a higher tendency of psychological problems than the general population. Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT), a cognitive-behavioral therapy, is an effective intervention to promote quality of life and functioning in adolescents with chronic illness. However, traditional visit-based therapy sessions are restrained by challenges, such as limited follow-up, insufficient data collection, low treatment adherence, and delayed intervention. In this paper, we present Instant Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (iACT), a system designed to enhance the quality of pediatric ACT. iACT utilizes text messaging technology, which is the most popular cell phone activity among adolescents, to conduct real-time psychotherapy interventions. The system is built on cloud computing technologies, which provides a convenient and cost-effective monitoring environment. To evaluate iACT, a trial with 60 adolescents with SCD is being conducted in conjunction with the Georgia Institute of Technology, Children's Healthcare of Atlanta, and Georgia State University.
authors.forename: Chihwen
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Cheng
authors.forename: R Clark
authors.initials: RC
authors.lastname: Brown
authors.forename: Lindsey L
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Cohen
authors.forename: Janani
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Venugopalan
authors.forename: Todd H
authors.initials: TH
authors.lastname: Stokes
authors.forename: May D
authors.initials: MD
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D064869:Acceptance and Commitment Therapy; D000293:Adolescent; D000755:Anemia, Sickle Cell / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy*; D040421:Cell Phone; D002648:Child; D006801:Humans; D011613:Psychotherapy; D017216:Telemedicine